Fixing a Broken Laptop

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Justice, Jul 2, 2011.

  1. Justice

    Justice Private E-2

    Hello :)
    I got my grandfather's "broken laptop," and I'm hoping that I might be able to save it.
    Chances are that the motherboard is fried and it can't be saved- but I was hoping that perhaps I'm wrong.

    So, when the laptop gets power and the power button is pressed, all the external lights turn on, but the screen stays black. Also, the buttons for the volume and such are touch not push, and when touched they make the same noise that they normally would. I also observed that the fan in the back isn't turning.
    Now, my grandfather told me that before it went out, the screen was having trouble. It would flash white or with noise, blink on and off- things like that.
    I have tried giving it power both with the battery in and out, but neither work.
    I opened up the compartments and looked at the inside- nothing appeared visibly damaged or fried to the untrained eye.

    Oh, the laptop is a HP Pavilion DV9000, if that makes a difference.

    So what are your thoughts? :confused
    Thank you! :)
     
  2. tgell

    tgell Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Hello,
    An easy way to determine if it is software or hardware related is to download a small linux distro like Puppy. Burn the iso with something like ImgBurn and boot the CD. If it boots fine and you can do various tasks in Puppy, you know you probably have a Windows issue. If not, then it would be hardware related.

    Note: this computer was known to have display and heating issues. HP even issued a patch because of overheating of the graphics chip.

    http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum...s-overheating-damage-motherboard-failure.html
     
  3. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

  4. Justice

    Justice Private E-2

    Oh, wow, great- thanks for the replies and advice :)
    I don't know if the situation is any better, but at least I know what the problem most likely is! XD

    No, I am pretty sure he never sent it in for a recall. The GPU can be replaced, though, no?
     

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